These early test cars always had a human backup ready to take control of the car, but the test fleet accumulated thousands of miles with no accidents attributed to computer failures.

The Google program is headed by Sebastian Thrun, who had been director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Thrun also led the Stanford team that won the second DARPA driverless car challenge and a $2 million prize, for creating a vehicle that could complete a 132-mile desert course without human intervention.

The proposal presented to the Nevada lawmakers extends this research to test on public roads this kind of automated driving systems.

Of course, a car that drives itself would take away the "fun" factor for the driver, but it would reduce stress in harried commuter traffic and offer the opportunity to actually get work done during the commute.

Distracted drivers cause many vehicular accidents as they talk on their cell phones, send text messages, change CDs, or even just get into heated discussions with a passenger.

The robotic car might be subject to its own potential failures, to be sure.

But would they be more frequent or more dangerous than the carnage we now experience with human drivers?